William Caldwell is a Baaad Elf

It was like something out of a movie at Southlake Mall in Morrow, Georgia yesterday evening. People Christmas shopping and having a good time with their families, children waiting in line, anxious for that brief moment where they can whisper to Santa Claus their desires for Christmas Day, their parents hoping the picture doesn’t cost an arm and a leg…

Waiting in line with the little kids was one of Santa’s elves. While not part of this Santa’s holiday menagerie William C. Caldwell III of Morrow certainly dressed the part, all except for the trench coat he was wearing. When Caldwell managed to get his turn with Santa he told the portly St. Nick he wanted to have his picture taken with him…and oh, by the way, he also had dynamite in his bag and was going to blow up the mall.

Several people heard Caldwell and do what crowds of sheep always do, run like hell. Police were informed and they subdued Caldwell, throwing him to the ground in the process. The mall was evacuated (for the rest of the evening) and searched for explosives which were never found…

It’s as if a producer said “find me the biggest dumbass rednecks to interview, we’re going to be on National News tomorrow!”

Some of the comments witnessed gave CBS last night,

“I ain’t never seen a whole mall evactuated at one time like that”

“They said bomb..I just heard bomb! When I heard the b-word, I just dipped, seriously”

Caldwell was arrested and charged with Terroristic Threats, Simple Assault, Hoax Devices, False Imprisonment, Disorderly Conduct, False Public Alarm and Reckless Conduct. He’s been lodged in the Clayton County Jail with no bond.

I don’t yet have a booking photo but his arrest docket is here. He even sounds like an elf. Not that I am the tallest person on the block but William is a white male, 5′, 108 lbs. Just as soon as I can get a photo I’ll be sure to get it online.

Update 4:24 p.m. – So they have released Caldwell’s mug shot as you can see at the top of the entry. Nothing really new here but a couple of the local stations have interviewed Caldwell’s neighbors who call him mentally unstable and that the costume didn’t surprise them. One man said that he walks around with different costumes every day. Sometimes a king, sometimes he has a cape on, etc…They do say that he has never been unpleasant though, just weird.